Don’t Hate Me Because I Model Beautiful Clothes!

I’ve been organizing my basement desk area the past few weeks and came across these lovely pictures from my vast modeling career.  This job was a little over two years ago.  I’m posting the gorgeous pictures here so that you all can envy me my glamorous modeling life and because I KNOW you want one of these sweaters…  Enjoy.

This first one isn’t so bad – it’s a Nicole Miller down jacket.  Pretty harmless.

Nicole Miller jacket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, a leopard print jacket that’s REVERSABLE.

Reverseable Leopard print jacket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is truly unique.  A snowman sweater with a lovely fuzzy-ball scarf that’s ATTACHED.  I’m very proud of the result of this shoot because I actually LOOK like I like the sweater and would wear it, don’t I?  Make sure you read the description if you can.

Snowman Sweater with Attached Fuzzy-ball Scarf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least – the Christmas Tree Sweater.  There are no words to describe its true one-of-a-kind-ness.

Christmas Tree Sweater

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember that the Fingerhut catalog has a vast assortment of lay-away plans!  So you could purchase any one of these lovely items for pennies a day!  (Red velvet pants not included in this order.)

 

Hollywood Gets It Wrong – Again

“If you put Buddha, Jesus Christ, Socrates, Shakespeare, Arjuna, Krishna at a dinner table together, I can’t see them having any argument.” Hugh Jackman, actor (of course)

Oh, boy.  Well, I think Socrates, Shakespeare, Arjuna (whoever that is!) and Krishna would have a problem if Jesus simply repeated what he said to his followers, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  Yeah.  I can see that causing an argument.  (With Jesus remaining perfectly calm, of course.)

There’s a new documentary coming soon that has celebrities talking about “What God Is” rather than “Who God Is,” and it’s called, you guessed it, “Oh My God?”

Don’t waste your time looking for it.  Just pray for the lost in Hollywood and know that they once again have no idea what they’re talking about.

 

“Lecrae” – Finally, Rap Music With Good Theology!

I’ve always loved rap music, but I became a Christian right about the time rap music was really getting into the angry “gangsta rap” stage, so I stopped listening.

Then a friend told me about Lecrae Moore, a.k.a. “Lecrae” in the music biz.  I listened to the intro on his latest album “Rebel” and ended up buying the whole thing on iTunes before listening to the rest.  It’s awesome.

What’s great about this rapper’s music is his theology.  It’s actually biblical!  Here’s a sample of his lyrics:

Not only is the music and lyrics good, but I think he’s part of a very valuable ministry to the lost. The church I attend is mostly white. I’d pretty much bet everything I have that black folks who like rap music and who are more comfortable around other black people would never venture into our Presbyterian hymn-singing church for worship. I attend the church because it’s where my husband wants us to go, I love the people and the teaching/preaching is biblical and edifying. If music and fellowship with more people who looked like me were a priority, I’d go somewhere else (if my husband agreed as well). That being said, Lecrae is reaching people that our church cannot reach. Some people will only listen to rap music and never go to church. Well, they may hit upon Lecrae’s music one day and be moved to seek out a church or follow his ministry.

I also appreciate that his lyrics are very in-your-face. He doesn’t sugar-coat his message at all and I LOVE that! You know exactly where he’s coming from and if you’re living a life of sin you’ll be very aware of it if you listen to his songs. But you’ll also know that you don’t have to live that way – that there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ, the true Rebel.

Check it out.

 

The Blow Flower and the Echo

Funny story.  Yesterday Grethe and I were outside playing around and she saw a dandelion in the distance and ran toward it – she calls them “blow flowers”.  (It’s the dandelion after it’s gone to seed, which, according to Wikipedia is called a “clock”.)  The “blow flower” was positioned in between our house and our neighbors, the Burns’.  She also has this ritual of when she picks up a blow flower she tries to recite the words from the Peter Rabbit DVD that Benjamin Bunny says when he’s holding a “clock.”  It goes something like this: “Breakfastime! (blows on the flower) lunchtime! (blow) teatime! (blow) suppertime! (blow)…breakfast.”  Only when Grethe says it, it comes out like, “suppa-sime, beffest-time, beckfast.”  It’s very cute.

On this day, she picked up her blow flower and did her spiel and at the end she announed with a surprised look, “I hear myself!”  It turns out that the position she was standing in between the houses created  a perfect echo chamber.  I laughed and explained to her that that was an echo she was hearing and I encouraged her to keep saying something really loud so she could hear it.  She stood there for many minutes shouting at the top of her lungs, “HI!!!” and “Echo!!”  It was so loud and echoed so well that my husband heard her inside his office with the door shut on the other side of the house.  I haven’t laughed that hard at Grethe in a while.  It was a very fun moment of discovery for her and a wonderfully precious time of laughing and enjoying Grethe for me.

 

September 11th

I just want to acknowledge this day because I care.  I think of the families that lost someone they loved today and it all makes me cry.  I read one article that said a son was there at the memorial holding a sign that said, “We miss you, Dad.”  It just reminds me that each person lost was a son, father, sister, mother, etc., and my heart aches for all 3000 plus losses. 

I feel nothing, however, for the lost 19 Muslim souls who conspired together for this act.  When I see pictures of their faces nothing but anger and hatred rises up in me for a moment.  As I’ve said in another post, it’s a good thing God is not like us.  His mercy endures forever and is infinitely greater than the mustard seed of mercy I might possess.  I would show no mercy were I in charge of their destiny. 

To the families of September 11 I would say, don’t give up on God.  He really is sovereign over all things.  Just because he doesn’t stop evil from happening doesn’t mean he isn’t loving.  And he is just.  Each person who does evil will be judged.  And each person who pursues righteousness through Jesus Christ will be rewarded.  It is good to wait on the Lord.

 

Unrealistic “Real Food”

So I purchased the book, Real Food for Mothers and Babies by Nina Planck and I am disappointed.

I’m about nine weeks along in my first trimester so I wanted to get right down to business.  I skipped the chapter on “The Fertility Diet” and “What is Real Food?” and went right to the chapter on “Forty Weeks.”   Well, as you can guess, the “Forty Weeks” chapter didn’t make any sense so I had to go back and read exactly what she meant by “real food”.

Planck’s definition of real food is it’s “old and it’s traditional.”  Meaning, we’ve been eating these foods for a long time, and “traditional” meaning it’s “produced and prepared roughly as it once was, before factories gave us lesser versions.”  For example, she defines real milk as the following:

• real milk is from grass-fed cows
• real milk comes from cows that are not treated with hormones
• real milk is raw (not pasteurized)
• real milk is not homogenized
• real milk is whole milk

She does this with meat (grass fed, pastured, free of hormones and antibiotics), fruits and vegetables, fats, and bread.

My problem with the book, of course, is where in the corn-bred hec does she think I’m going to find raw milk in Minnetonka unless I live right on a farm?  We have organic co-ops in our area but she argues that even organic is not always the best.  She says that organic and free-range doesn’t always mean grass fed.

There’s a lot more information she gives in the book on healthy eating but I stopped reading it after I decided eating her way was very unrealistic and extremely expensive.  Part of the reason I don’t buy organic food is it’s way too expensive and I think it’s mostly a marketing gimmic.  But that doesn’t mean I go to the other extreme and buy factory processed foods.  I just read labels.  I think that’s a pretty easy and cheap solution. 

In the end, I photocopied the page of her book that shows a chart of what you should be eating during each trimester.  I’m going to combine that with other articles and books from real doctors and try to eat as healthy as I can.  I’m a little irritated that I paid $11.00 for a photocopied chart on my fridge, but if it helps any of you NOT to buy the book then that’s a good thing. 

The pregnancy is going well, by the way.  What do you all think of the name Phinehas for a boy??? 

 

“Julie & Julia”: Good But Trite

For the first time in a very long time I actually saw a movie in the theater.    Honestly, I think the last movie I saw in a theater may have been Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.  I don’t count having to go to the movie Wanted with Angelina Jolie because it was just such a silly movie and it wasn’t something I would have chosen to see.  But I made the movie Julie & Julia a priority because it’s about food and because of Meryl Streep.

It was pretty good.  It certainly made me want to go home and try some of the recipes in the book featured in the film, “Mastering The Art of French Cooking” written by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck.

The film follows the real lives of Julie Powell and Julia Child; Julie Powell being the blogger who challenges herself to cook through Child’s book of 536 recipes in a year.  It was very funny in parts and entertaining.  It keeps you interested because if you aren’t familiar with the real Julie Powell’s blog you don’t know if she actually reached her goal.

I think most critics agree that some of the best scenes are the ones following Julia Child’s life in Paris.  Because of the film, I’m much more curious about her life and how she thought about food.  On the other hand, even with a pretty good actress like Amy Adams playing her, I have no real desire to get to know Julie Powell after seeing the film.  I think the only appeal she has in the film is her “cute” factor.  Other than that, she seems quite self-absorbed and like she has “issues” if you know what I mean.  One film critic said Adams talks in the film like she’s reading her own blog and I agree.  And I completely understand the fight she has with her husband – he definitely was kicked to the curb during her blogging/cooking obsession.

So overall it was a good movie.  I wouldn’t say it rates up there with the food movies I own like “Babette’s Feast” and “Mostly Martha“, but it was very funny in parts and entertaining – it just wasn’t that rich of a story; it was a little trite.  But I suppose that’s to be expected when it’s a movie about a blog. 

By the way, I checked out the real Julie Powell’s blog.  Don’t go there.  Let’s just say she makes herself even less desirable as a person you’d want to know.

Update:  If you take your kids to this movie, beware of the very off-color comment from Meryl Streep (Julia Child) when she takes some large pasta noodles out of a kettle with her bare hands…  It’s pretty crude.

 

Powerful Editor Fights Size Zero Model Trend

I no longer have to worry about aspiring to a size zero now that I’m pregnant, but I was very happy to see the article below.  The editor of British Vogue is fighting against designers who only book and promote the super-skinny models for their shows.  I didn’t realize some teenage models have actually died from malnutrition because of the pressure to be a size zero.

Of course, what it really comes down to is money.  This editor and probably others are tired of having to pay extra to air brush a few extra pounds onto a model in print.  At the same time, Alexandra Shulman in the article below seems to also care about the models themselves.

Here’s the article:

Vogue editor hits out at over size-zero models

Alexandra Shulman, the editor of fashion magazine Vogue, has accused some of the world’s leading catwalk designers of forcing magazines to hire dangerously thin models despite widespread concern over teenage anorexia.

Published: 9:25AM BST 13 Jun 2009

Alexandra Shulman, Editor of British Vogue Photo: JONATHAN OLLEY

Shulman, one of the most important figures in the multi-billion dollar fashion industry, has taken on all the largest fashion houses claiming the clothes they make have become “substantially smaller”.

In a strongly worded letter, the Vogue editor accused designers of making magazines hire models with “jutting bones and no breasts or hips” by supplying them with “minuscule” garments for their photo shoots.

Vogue, she said, is now frequently retouching photographs to make models look larger.

The letter, which was sent to the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Prada and Versace, said: “We have now reached the point where many of the sample sizes don’t comfortably fit the established star models.”

Her intervention has been hailed as a turning point in the debate over model size that has rage after the deaths of three models from complications relating to malnutrition, and the decision of leading fashion shows to ban size-zero models.

Baroness Kingsmill, who led the 2007 model health inquiry on behalf of the British Fashion Council, said the stand taken by Shulman was an “encouraging sign”.

Stephen Kolb, from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, added: “If a stylist is casting models that are unhealthy they shouldn’t work with them.”

 

Vegan Diets Kill Babies

I don’t usually find an opinion piece I agree with in the New York Times, but since I’m on the subject of “real food” (see post below) let me post a bold op-ed from Nina Planck about the dangers of a vegan diet.  Her article apparently touched a lot of nerves and has become one with the most email responses.  I can only imagine.  Well, good for her and good for the Times for deciding to publish it.

Here’s the article in full.

Death by Veganism

By Nina Planck

Published: May 21, 2007

Correction Appended

WHEN Crown Shakur died of starvation, he was 6 weeks old and weighed 3.5 pounds. His vegan parents, who fed him mainly soy milk and apple juice, were convicted in Atlanta recently of murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty.

Jacob Magraw-Mickelson

This particular calamity — at least the third such conviction of vegan parents in four years — may be largely due to ignorance. But it should prompt frank discussion about nutrition.

I was once a vegan. But well before I became pregnant, I concluded that a vegan pregnancy was irresponsible. You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.

Indigenous cuisines offer clues about what humans, naturally omnivorous, need to survive, reproduce and grow: traditional vegetarian diets, as in India, invariably include dairy and eggs for complete protein, essential fats and vitamins. There are no vegan societies for a simple reason: a vegan diet is not adequate in the long run.

Protein deficiency is one danger of a vegan diet for babies. Nutritionists used to speak of proteins as “first class” (from meat, fish, eggs and milk) and “second class” (from plants), but today this is considered denigrating to vegetarians.

The fact remains, though, that humans prefer animal proteins and fats to cereals and tubers, because they contain all the essential amino acids needed for life in the right ratio. This is not true of plant proteins, which are inferior in quantity and quality — even soy.

A vegan diet may lack vitamin B12, found only in animal foods; usable vitamins A and D, found in meat, fish, eggs and butter; and necessary minerals like calcium and zinc. When babies are deprived of all these nutrients, they will suffer from retarded growth, rickets and nerve damage.

Responsible vegan parents know that breast milk is ideal. It contains many necessary components, including cholesterol (which babies use to make nerve cells) and countless immune and growth factors. When breastfeeding isn’t possible, soy milk and fruit juice, even in seemingly sufficient quantities, are not safe substitutes for a quality infant formula.

Yet even a breast-fed baby is at risk. Studies show that vegan breast milk lacks enough docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, the omega-3 fat found in fatty fish. It is difficult to overstate the importance of DHA, vital as it is for eye and brain development.

A vegan diet is equally dangerous for weaned babies and toddlers, who need plenty of protein and calcium. Too often, vegans turn to soy, which actually inhibits growth and reduces absorption of protein and minerals. That’s why health officials in Britain, Canada and other countries express caution about soy for babies. (Not here, though — perhaps because our farm policy is so soy-friendly.)

Historically, diet honored tradition: we ate the foods that our mothers, and their mothers, ate. Now, your neighbor or sibling may be a meat-eater or vegetarian, may ferment his foods or eat them raw. This fragmentation of the American menu reflects admirable diversity and tolerance, but food is more important than fashion. Though it’s not politically correct to say so, all diets are not created equal.

An adult who was well-nourished in utero and in infancy may choose to get by on a vegan diet, but babies are built from protein, calcium, cholesterol and fish oil. Children fed only plants will not get the precious things they need to live and grow.

Nina Planck is the author of “Real Food: What to Eat and Why.”

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I got the tip about Nancy Planck from my friend Corrine who’s studying nutrition.  The “real food” connection is Planck’s first book is called Real Food: What to Eat and Why and her latest book is Real Food for Mother & Baby. I’m going to start reading her second book because I’m expecting another child!  Yipee! Surprised, aren’t cha?

 

Canned Soup Ghetto

Sorry for the lack of posting lately.  I’ve had some major computer problems and they’re apparently due to downloading Internet Explorer 8.  Through Dell Support I’ve had to wipe out my entire hard drive and basically start all over.  It’s been a real pain and my troubles are not entirely gone, but at least I can finally get to WordPress.com!

There is always something going on in the world more important than cooking but I thought I’d make the first post after my absence about the new Real Food magazine from Byerly’s (a Minnesota grocery chain).

It’s a fabulous issue once again, and I strongly suggest you go pick one up ASAP because it’s FREE.  Here are some of the highlights:

• I may have mentioned this somewhere on my blog but I’m a unashamed food snob.  There are just certain things I won’t lower myself to bring into my household much less eat.  For example, I’ve never purchased a pack of hot dogs and one has never crossed my daughters lips; I will never make Kraft macaroni and cheese out of a box and I received it once as a gag gift – I gave the appropriate laugh and then promptly threw the unopened box into the garbage when I got home; and green bean casserole Minnesota style is not real food! (In MN they put those fake onions out of a can on top of canned beans.  Could that be any less appetizing?)  And by the way, I actually don’t think my food aversions are all that outlandish – I basically just try to use as many fresh ingredients as I can and rarely buy already made or processed foods.

  Which brings me to the surprisingly good article in Real Food about how casseroles are gaining in popularity.  When I think casserole I think Cream of Mushroom soup from a can – yuck.  Still, I’ve always like the idea of a casserole because it’s an easy one-pot meal.  Well apparently there’s a new cookbook out that I will be purchasing called The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever, by a famous American cook name Beatrice Ojakangas.  “Finally,” the Real Food editor Dara Grumdahl says, “someone to rescue casseroles from the ghetto of canned soups that made them so famously dull and nutrition-free!”  (I love that image: canned soups in a ghetto. )  Check out some of these recipes – South Indian Biryani with Basmati Rice, Asiago Chicken, and Pork Chop and Apple Bake with Caraway Noodles.  In this book are all the recipes to make delicious French casseroles from scratch and other recipes from around the world like Finland and Belgium.  I’m excited to get this book!

  “A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what went into it.” Anonymous

• Because it’s the Fall 2009 edition, there are some great soup recipes in this issue.  Smoky Chicken Tomato, Brown Rice and Corn Soup, Toasted Cumin and Sweet Potato Soup with Spinach “Pesto” (I thought toasted cumin sounded expensive but you’re just toasting ground cumin in a pan.), and Tomato, Chickpea, and Vegetable Soup with Basil all sound wonderful to me and they’re things my toddler would eat – she loves soups!  (And believe it or not, she won’t eat soup out of a can!  I guess the apple doesn’t fall far!)
• Lastly, there’s a short article on the ease of whipping together a meal to entertain that’s all Greek.  That’s something I could see myself doing as well.  The recipes sound simple but elegant and very tasty – Greek food is never dull.

So grab an issue next time you’re out and let me know what you think and if you tried anything.  You just can’t beat the great recipes and helpful information for no cost!

One other article I’ll mention about food is in my latest issue of Food & Wine magazine.  (I subscribed for six free issues and unfortunately this is my last one.)  There’s a piece in the magazine about NYC chef Marco Canora’s trip with his students to his hometown of Tuscany, Italy.  Two things I like: his recipe for seafood stew looks and sounds absolutely wonderful and this quote: “Is making tortelli too time consuming?  Get over it – the tedium is part of the beauty of it.”  My thoughts exactly.  Part of the joy in cooking is taking your time.

Happy Cooking!